The Maronite church
Jaffa

The Maronite church was established in 1924 in Jaffa with the help of the merchant's wife, Iskander Awa'ad which later changed his name to Alexander bay Howard. The merchant was Maronite of Malta who was in his youth a travel agent of the travelling company named "Tamas Kuk- Jaffa". Alexander guided British tourists which traveled in the holy land, and when he died in 1904 his wife donated money to build the church in favor of the maronites living in Jaffa. When the building of the church was completed, Howard's tomb was moved to it and a statue in his figure was placed on it.

The maronites are Christians which belong to the catholic stream that grew in northern Syria and center of Lebanon. The church was built by a maronite monks from Lebanon who spoke Arabic.